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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce household food insecurity and hunger  — NWS‑01 Data Methodology and Measurement

This objective is a Leading Health Indicator (LHI). Learn about LHIs.

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS), Census and USDA/ERS

Baseline: 11.1 percent of households were food insecure in 2018

Target: 6.0 percent

Numerator
Number of households classified as food insecure (including low food security and very low food security) over a 12-month period.
Denominator
Number of households.
Target-setting method
Maintain consistency with national programs, regulations, policies, or laws
Target-setting method justification
The target was selected to align with the United States Action Plan on Food Security adopted as part of the United States response to the 1996 World Food Summit, a 50 percent reduction.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2018 Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey:

Numerator:
(I/we) worried whether (my/our) food would run out before (I/we) got money to buy more. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
The food that (I/we) bought just didn't last, and (I/we) didn't have money to get more. Was that often, sometimes or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
(I/we) couldn't afford to eat balanced meals. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

[If yes:]

How often did this happen - almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

  1. Almost every month
  2. Some months but not every month
  3. In only 1 or 2 months
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused

In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn't enough money for food?

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry but didn't eat because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

[If yes:]

How often did this happen - almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

  1. Almost every month
  2. Some months but not every month
  3. In only 1 or 2 months
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
(I/we) relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed the children because (I was/we were) running out of money to buy food. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
(I/we) couldn't feed the children a balanced meal because (I/we) couldn't afford that. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
The children were not eating enough because (I/we) just couldn't afford enough food. Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?
  1. Often
  2. Sometimes
  3. Never
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children's meals because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry but you just couldn't afford more food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

[If yes:]

How often did this happen - almost every month, some month but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

  1. Almost every month
  2. Some months but not every month
  3. In only 1 or 2 months
  4. Don't Know
  5. Refused
In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Don't Know
  4. Refused

Methodology notes

The U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module is a set of 18 questions developed in the early 1990s by an interagency working group led jointly by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Three of the questions ask about food conditions in the household as a whole, seven ask about food conditions among adults in the household or the adult respondent, and eight ask about food conditions among children (if any) in the household. All of the questions in the module focus explicitly on food inadequacy and insufficiency that result from inadequate household resources. Other sources of food insecurity, such as child abuse or neglect are not identified by the measure.

The Food Security Supplement is administered annually to about 40,000 households in December as part of the monthly, nationally representative Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The supplement has been conducted annually since 1995. The supplement is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The survey responses are used to identify households that were food insecure at least some time during the year. Households are classified as food secure if none of the questions were answered affirmatively or if only one or two questions were answered affirmatively. If three or more questions are answered affirmatively, the household is classified as food insecure. Answers of "yes," "often," or "sometimes" are considered affirmative.

Disability status in the population template combines information on all adult household members and includes disabled-not in labor force, and other disabilities including hearing, vision, mental, physical, self-care, and going-outside-home disabilities.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.